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President Trump calls to congratulate Roseanne Barr

Getty Images Roseanne Barr and President TrumpGetty Images
Barr (left) has declared herself to be a supporter of President Trump

The ratings success of Roseanne Barr's return to her self-titled TV sitcom prompted President Donald Trump to give her a congratulatory phone call.

Mr Trump confirmed at a speech in Ohio that the call had taken place.

The return of Barr's 1990s sitcom after 20 years away drew an audience of more than 18 million viewers on Tuesday.

The first two episodes of the revived show's nine-episode run reintroduced Barr's blue-collar heroine, Roseanne Conner, as a Trump-supporting granny.

ABC Roseanne castABC
John Goodman (centre) reprises his role as Dan in the rebooted sitcom

It also saw the return of John Goodman as Roseanne's husband Dan alongside such other series regulars as Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert.

Mr Trump celebrated the ratings success at a speech on infrastructure in Ohio on Thursday.

"Even look at Roseanne, I called her yesterday. Look at her ratings! Look at her ratings! I got a call from Mark Burnett, he did The Apprentice. He's a great guy. He said, 'Donald, I called just to say hello and to tell you did you see Roseanne's ratings?'" Mr Trump said, referring to his reality show.

"They were unbelievable," Mr Trump continued, "Over 18 million people. And it was about us."

Speaking to the Times this week, Barr - a Trump supporter herself - said she felt it was "important" to reflect Trump's appeal to working class Americans.

"I just wanted to have that dialogue about families torn apart by the election and their political differences of opinion and how we handle it," she said.

Roseanne's political allegiances have been the subject of heated debate on social media this week.

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Some people felt the president's phone call suggested he should reconsider his priorities.

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Yet others, among them Good Morning Britain's Piers Morgan, felt the show's rating message sent a message to "screaming Trump-hating liberals".

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The new series of Roseanne is on ABC in the US but has yet to be picked up for broadcast or streaming in the UK.

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